I was up early and at the shuttle stop by 7:00 this morning. I wasn't going to mess around looking for a coffee shop near the hotel again, so I went to the Starbucks inside the convention center.
My first session today was about how to motivate students to read for pleasure. Again, I took lots of notes and now have a million ideas for school. I want to write a grant to purchase software so that I can make READ posters of my students that look just like the ALA READ posters.
I left that session a bit early so that I could secure a place in line for the Harper Collins Fall Book Preview. I'm glad I did, because it was packed. I was there early enough to receive the goody bag filled with galleys and advanced readers' copies. I have to say that I wasn't blown away by any upcoming books. It seemed like they're really putting their money into mediocre fantasy series. There was one new Patricia Reilly Giff series that would be perfect for my struggling 3rd grade readers, but the cover looks too young. I think it will be very hard to sell the book to the targeted audience. I'm thinking about writing a letter to the publisher about book covers. A struggling reader does not want to walk around with a book that has a "babyish" picture on the cover. It's not rocket science, people!
Verizon had set up a Thinkfinity Suite for teacher librarians, so I decided to check it out. I'm glad I did. The suite was a room filled with free food (pizza, desserts, coffee, soda) and Thinkfinity reps demonstrated a free online resource for educators. I kept waiting for the catch, but there wasn't one. There is no fee and no subscription plus I had a really good brownie! I can't wait to share this resource with the teachers at school in the fall.
Next up was a book signing by Deborah Wiles. Deborah's book, Countdown is one of my favorite books this year. I tweeted about the book on Twitter, and Deborah responded to me. I was looking forward to meeting her in person. There was quite a long line, but I did have a chance to meet Deborah. She signed a copy of the book for me and she remembered my comments from Twitter. She was so sweet!
After being at the convention center for over 6 hours, I decided to head back to my hotel to drop off my treasures and take a power nap. Once I regained my energy, I met up with Louise and Andi from Falmouth Memorial Library on the exhibit floor. We decided it would be fun to attend the Annual Book Cart Drill Team competition. I'm glad we did. It was a blast, especially since Jon Scieskza and Mo Willems were the emcees.
A group of us took the shuttle to Pennsylvania Ave. to grab a bite to eat. After a nice meal with friends, I took took the shuttle back to the Convention Center. My plan was to take the shuttle to my hotel and call it a night. I was surprised to learn that the shuttles were done for the night. Across the street I saw a bus idling. It was headed to the Hilton for the Newbery and Caldecott banquet. Why not? I hopped aboard and decided to check out the banquet. I didn't have a ticket, but I had heard they allow people without tickets to sit in the back and listen to the speeches.
I found a great seat and met a very cool librarian from Virginia. We chatted for over an hour. She was an ALA veteran, so she had some great stories. The Newbery and Caldecott speeches were inspiring. I know that sounds corny, but there's no other way to describe them. I left the Hilton in such an uplifted mood. I think I have the best job in the world! The shuttle buses were filled with people in their cocktail dresses and suits. Lots of authors and illustrators filled the seats around us. I chatted with a personable woman in the seat next to me. She told me that she was in a writing group in Vermont with Karen Hesse. We mostly talked about the weather and New England. As she was getting off I found out I was sitting next to author and illustrator Barbara Christiansen who won the Schneider Family Book Award this year for Django.
I don't think I'll be able to top this day!
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